Quidditch, Quaffles, and Quarrels
by EW4eva
Summary: Alex Parkin: Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain, descendant of Benjamin Parkin orginial member of the Wigtown Wanderers ,& girlfriend of Roger Davies, Ravenclaw Captain, until he cheated on her. Now she vows revenge, who better to turn to than another captain?
1. Roger Davies The Bane of My Existence

Story: Quidditch, Quaffles, and Quarrels

Chapter 1: Roger Davies- The Bane Of My Existence

"You're breaking up with me?"

I glared up at the disbelieving face of Roger Davies and huffed rather unlady-like. Roger was always very handsome with his tall, lean figure. He had brown hair that was straight but managed to always be slightly squiggly at the same time. It barely managed to reach his eyebrows. His brown eyes were currently staring down at me, observing me just as I was observing him. There was a faint hint of his notorious arrogant smirk present on his lips, one of the many reasons I currently detested this slightly idiotic fifth year Ravenclaw.

"Really Roger, I thought that would have been obvious after the huge scene I made in the Great Hall, which was entirely your fault by the way," I flipped my long, slightly wavy, naturally-blond hair over my shoulder in aggravation as a few strands fell into my bright blue eyes which were currently filled with a large amount of anger, frustration, fury, and whatever other synonym you wished to use for 'beyond pissed'. My tall, curvy, feminine physique stood nearly shaking in irritation at the boy's apparent nonchalant attitude.

"What the hell's got your knickers in a twist this time Parkin?"

"I dunno _Davies_ maybe you should go ask Betsy the heifer, you two seemed more than cozy the last time I saw you," With that I turned and continued my walk back to the Hufflepuff common room.

"You'll be back! You always come **crawling** back!" I heard him yell to me as I walked away. I flipped him my middle finger over my shoulder, not even bothering to turn around. Roger had cornered me on my way back from dinner in order to discuss what had happened earlier at breakfast. Maybe I should explain…

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_Earlier that day-_

_I was making my way down to breakfast. It was a usual Tuesday morning. The sky outside was blue, with multiple white puffy clouds, and the weather was still tolerable if not a little brisk. It was the fourteen of September. Nothing extraordinary planned, except for four classes, an essay to write later, and some work on my Quidditch plans for the year._

_As I passed the portrait of a bowl of fruit that I knew led to the kitchens, a fellow Hufflepuff named Ashley Stone walked by and greeted me, "Hey Alex!" I smiled and waved back in acknowledgment. That's my name, Alex. Well technically it's Alexandria Abigail Parkin, but Alexandria is just too long. _

_A yawn escaped me, as I neared the end of the corridor leading to the Entrance Hall. A sudden shrill, almost Banshee-like screech stopped me in my place, both due to the intensely annoying sound and also the name it had called out._

"_Roger!" The high-pitched girl squealed. I took the opportunity to peek my head around the corner, extremely curious. Did she mean, Roger Davies, fifth year Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain, hunk, and not to mention, my boyfriend?_

_It was indeed __**that**__ Roger. I was not all too surprised at this, seeing as you don't find many Roger's in a school of only three hundred. He turned to the bleached blond bimbo (I'm amazing at alliterations, I know) and smiled. "Hey Betsy," he called to her (what an appropriate name). My eyes narrowed slightly as I watched the exchange, slightly hesitant as to what would happen next._

_Roger and I have been a couple since my fourth year. Two whole bloody years of my life dedicated to one person (yeah, I am older than him… creepy, I know). Ok, that's a lie. While Roger and I have dated since fourth year, his third, we've had a total of sixteen rather dramatic break-ups. We have also had more arguments to count, and I alone have ended up dating twelve other boys during our separations. But his total was much higher, so I don't regret it in the slightest. _

_While I usually just dismissed Roger's behavior towards girls, I was typically always present when he flirted with them shamelessly. While I would get mad, I would frequently just find a boy to flirt with myself until he stopped. I've had friends tell me to dump Roger, because they had "heard about" or "seen" him cheating on me. Usually these friends were always guys, and while I valued my friendship with them, I knew for a fact that a lot of them just wanted to be my back-up dancer, if you know what I mean, so I had always ignored them. But now, this was a chance to see first hand if the rumors were true._

_I watched as the slag slowly approached Roger with the super slutty walk that just screamed, "Shag me! I'm not wearing any knickers!" I could not see Roger's face, but for some reason I knew it held a smirk. Then as if in slow motion I watched as Roger grabbed the girl, one hand at her waist, the other on her shoulder, and pushed her back rather roughly against the stone wall adjacent to the Great Hall doors. His lips quickly found hers as he forced his body against her fake-breasted one. _

_My expression was one of shock as I took in the scene, Roger's hand roaming down to her waist, and then back up her shirt, landing finally on her overly large mangoes, as I like to call them (I mean breasts and boobs… such strange words). My mouth continued to hang open, but I felt my shock beginning to diminish as her hands went up to play with his hair. I watched in horror and fury as that stupid bint snogged my boyfriend. No I got that backwards, as that cheating, egotistical, deceitful, rip-out-my-heart-and-stomp-all-over-it bastard of a boyfriend snogged that cow. And in broad daylight, for the whole bloody world to see! How could I be so thick, not to listen to the rumors. I was going to make that boy pay. By the time I was done with him, he would be crying for the dementors to come and suck out his soul because he wouldn't be able to deal with all the pain and torment of staring at his horribly disfigured face in the mirror._

_I was so pissed off, stuck in my daydream of ripping my boyfriend to shreds that I didn't even notice the two split up. The heifer was currently making her way up the stairs, while Davies had made his way into the Great Hall without my notice._

_I stormed after him, an expression of rage plastered to my face as I entered the Great Hall. People were chatting merrily, completely oblivious to the drama that was about to unfold. I was about ten feet away from the unaware boy when I screamed out, "Oi, Davies!"_

_Roger turned around just in time to see my fist colliding with his face. Yeah, screw slapping; this was way too serious of a situation to use girly measures of fighting. I must remember to thank my dad later for my rather amazing right hook._

_The whole Hall went silent as Roger hit the ground. _

_I looked down at him with pure hatred as I began to scream, "You bloody bastard! Who the __**hell**__ do you think you are?"_

_People started to gasp as Roger, who was trying hard to pick himself up, was once again knocked down to the ground as my foot collided with his side. Roger groaned loudly in pain as I continued to yell, "You think you can do whatever you want? Well think again you son of a bitch! I won't let you hurt me while you go around and have a cheap fix! You arse!"_

_My foot was aiming for another kick at the boy I currently despised, but I was cut off as two people grabbed me, one for each arm. I looked over each shoulder to see that it was Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout, the Deputy Headmistress and my Head of House. In my rage I had not seen them approach. They began to drag me to the Entrance Hall but I struggled against their grasps, trying to get another kick in before I was made to leave. My shoe barely grazed the edge of Roger's robes. Frustrated I shouted, "We're over Davies! Over! And for good this time, you unloyal bastard!" My final words rung in the hall as I was escorted, or rather forcefully removed from the Great Hall. My last glimpse was of Roger Davies standing up from the floor, wiping the blood from his swollen nose with his fingertips, staring at me with a mixture of fury and confusion. Damn that man! No, damn that __**boy**__! I'd get my revenge! _

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Needless to say Professor Sprout was more than surprised by my sudden outburst. Both Cedric Diggory and I were considered to be the most successful, popular, and well-behaved students in Hufflepuff. With Cedric being a prefect and most likely the future Head Boy and I being the House's Quidditch Captain we were well on our way to a bright future. Well I suppose in Sprout's eyes, Diggory was on that path alone now.

After being given a long lecture on the art of subtle and polite confrontation I was allowed to leave with the sentence of two nights detention. It was originally three but I pleaded with my Head of House because the Hufflepuff tryouts were set for Friday, what would have been the third night of detention. Really what's a tryout without the Captain there?

I have been Captain ever since my fourth year, the year I hooked up with that imbecile whose name I shall not mention. In all honesty I was not surprised by the nomination, if anything I was a little shocked that I had gained the title so early. Now before you begin to judge me, I must inform you that the reason for my egotistical behavior is because Quidditch runs in my family. Literally. I am a direct descendant of Benjamin Parkin, son of Walter Parkin and one of the original members of the Wigtown Wanderers.

The Quidditch in my bloodline is so strong that every member down the Parkin line has either played Quidditch professionally (for the Wigtown Wanderers of course! Any other team would call for a disownment) or at least in school (and those were only a couple). Either way they all ended up marrying those with a knack for Quidditch as well. So basically, my family would have been more shocked than anything if I had not gained the title of Captain. If I think about it, my grandfather would have probably had a heart attack and died. Oh what a horrible thought… I love my Gramps.

I started the team in my second year, as the new and quite outstanding chaser. I have led my team to the Quidditch Cup in the first year of my Captaincy, and had helped them earn another in my third year. It would have been more if the previous seeker Helena Woodbridge wasn't such an idiot half the time, but she had graduated last year, and it was now time to find a new seeker.

I entered my Common Room, lost in thought about Quidditch. I headed over to the notice board and glanced at the Quidditch flyer I had previously posted. There were nine people signed up for the vacant position of seeker. Glancing down the list I was surprised to see Cedric Diggory was one of the names.

"I'm kind of excited about it."

I visible jumped, startled by the voice of the male that had snuck up on me.

"Cedric, why is it that your name is popping up everywhere today?"

Cedric's left eyebrow rose in confusion, becoming hidden by his blond locks. His grey eyes peered down at me questioningly. I was quite tall for a girl my age at 5'10' but I was grateful that most boys were still taller than me.

I smiled at him lightly, "Let's just say that your name came up more than once during Sprout's speech to me about proper etiquette and other such nonsense." Cedric smiled in return.

"Well you did make quite a scene in the Great Hall this morning," he said in a slightly teasing tone.

I scoffed at his statement; "It would have been a much uglier one if the teachers hadn't pulled me away. Damn them! Now I have to suffer through detention tonight and tomorrow night because of that ruddy bastard!"

"Well, I did try to warn you about Davies. He's a known womanizer."

I laughed at the word choice. "Yeah, I should have listened to you and the hundreds of others, but I'm a bit too stupid for my own good."

Cedric smiled kindly at me, "I'd like to think that you were merely trying to see the good in him."

I snorted at this, but the smile remained on my face, "Diggory, you know that's a ruddy lie."

He was about to retort but I stopped him, "So I see you've signed up for the seeker tryouts. Didn't know you played Quidditch!"

He sent me a slightly disapproving look for purposely changing the topic, but nonetheless he humored me. "I've always played on breaks and before I came to Hogwarts, but the position wasn't open until this year. Hopefully the tryouts go well though. I'm pretty confident."

I smiled at him kindly, "I'm sure you'll do fine Cedric."

He paused for a moment, then a small grin grew on his face as he said, "Well, it does help that I'm friendly with the Captain. Anyway I can persuade you to let me on?"

I rolled my eyes at his behavior, knowing that he was entirely joking. Cedric Diggory was not foolish enough to mess around with other guy's girlfriend; well I guess I'm no one's girlfriend now, but still.

"I don't think so Diggory. I want to win the cup again this year, so if you're not the best on Friday there's not much I can do for you."

Cedric laughed at this and then excused himself as his friend, roommate, and one of my fellow teammate Anthony Rickett came over to retrieve him for a game of Wizard's Chess.

I glanced up at the clock above the entranceway as he left and groaned. I had to be down at the greenhouses in twenty minutes for my detention. How wonderful. I went upstairs and dropped my backpack on the ground near by bed, then picked up my cloak. With a final sigh I headed back out of the yellow and black decorated room and towards my punishment.

A/N: Well I've decided to start a new story, after constantly arguing with myself not to. I mean I have so many unfinished ones up already! But I just love Oliver Wood, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Oh, and I thought about this story while listening to So What! By P!nk. By the way, most things will be normal in the story except some stuff in matches, the fact Hufflepuff has won Quidditch Cups and also the fact Alex is Captain. Oliver is in his seventh year like he should be, I didn't want to screw it up for my own purposes so I put Alex in the middle as a sixth year. Well that's about all! If you liked it then review, if you didn't like it then review anyway!


	2. No, This is Not About Quidditch!

"So you saw him kissing Betsy 'Loosey- Goosey' Walters?"

"Yes," I stared down at my plate dispersedly. My face was blank, yet I held a bit of anger in my sky blue eyes.

"Did he see you?"

"No," I replied once more, too mentally and physically exhausted to reply with more than a one-worded answer. I had spent the whole previous night awake in my bed, tossing and turning.

"So you just attacked him, right out of the blue?"

"Yes," I said once more.

"I told you I saw him running around with that little slag, Lindsey Brooks."

"Cass, you sure do know how to make a girl feel better," I said, finally looking up into the curious light brown eyes of my best friend Cassandra Whitehorn. I often found myself envying my friend. While I was not exactly anything to sneer at, I felt that Cass's features were much more beautiful than my own. She was of a very slender and petite build. While I was much taller and a bit more muscular, my friend maintained a very dainty feminine physique. I suppose Quidditch was the main reason for that. While Cassandra was extremely beautiful with her long, flowing dark-brown hair that always managed to be straight, no matter the weather, and her gorgeous doe-shaped light brown eyes, she was never gifted when it came to the art of flying… or rather in her case, falling.

She had never attended the lessons in our first year. She had always had her father send in various letters, describing the girl's frail condition. Which was all a load of bollocks really… While the girl was the size and shape of a twig, I have seen her in a cat-fight or two, and believe me she is anything but fragile.

Perhaps it was the fact that Cass was so much shorter than my 5'10" stature at only 5'4", but I couldn't help the envious glare than erupted on my face. Maybe that's why that bastard cheated on me… I'm too bloody tall! I've heard that creeps some guys out. Well, if I was a guy, I'd definitely go for a short, skinny, dainty girl like my best friend.

I was stopped from my inner ranting of my own insecurities as Cass said, "Will you stop staring at me like that! You know you are gorgeous, and so does every other male in this school so do not try to pretend otherwise."

I stared at her with a slightly shocked expression. Was I really that transparent?

"Yes, you are," Cass replied with an eye roll, "Maybe it's just the fact that I've known you for six years, but you're like an open book Alex."

I frowned at that. Deciding not to comment in my own mind, unless I wished to be figured out once more. This did not seem to get past my overly sarcastic and extremely honest best friend, who decided it was better to just ignore me. I watched as she rolled her eyes once more, then redirecting her gaze to travel around the room, perhaps in a search for any more interesting gossip. Oh gossip, it was the one thing Cass, and I must admit that even I, lived for, a momentary lapse from the otherwise dull evening.

I watched as a piece of her hair fell from her otherwise perfect arrangement of hair, landing on one of her high cheekbones. Cass always seemed to have the rather pompous air that comes with wealth. And she had every right to; her father was after all Devlin Whitehorn, the founder of the Nimbus broom company. This was another thing that astounded me. Quidditch ran through the Whitehorn's almost as much as the Parkin's, yet Cass was quite inept not only in the art of flying, but in Quidditch as well. I had to practically force her to go to see the matches with me in my first year. And I'm quite sure she lies to me when I ask if she went to see me play.

I watched as Cass's eyes finally lit up with excitement. I turned, following her gaze, trying to see who was the target of today's scandal. I groaned at the site of Roger. He was chatting up a rather young looking Ravenclaw, whose name I did not know. However, if I cared enough I would have asked Cass, she knew the low down of practically every person in this castle, including a few rather awkward rumors about Snape that I pray to Merlin were not true.

"Can we just pretend that Roger does not exist, or better yet, that he is dead!" I said moodily, turning back to my plate of untouched food.

"No, I can't let this one go, " she said, turning back to look at me with a mix of anger and mischievousness.

"Oh no, if you're planning something, count me out, I'm not going to partake in anything that involves that slime bag," I said with a mutinous look.

She rolled her eyes at me, a smile tugging at her lips, "We both know that Davies thinks that this is just going to be like last time. He thinks you two will make up and move on, well on your way again to becoming the most adored Quidditch couple of the century. Hell, he probably even thinks that you'll both eventually end up on that team of your, the Wigton Walkers, and live happily ever after."

"The Wigtown Wanderers," I said, slightly exasperated at my friends obvious indifference for my favorite sport. "And I seriously doubt Davies wants to play for the Wanderers. He always struck me as a Tornadoes guy…"

In all honesty, I knew that this was a total lie. Davies had talked about the possibility of being on the same team on more than a few occasions, with not only me but my dad as well. My parents absolutely adored Roger and they were always upset to hear if we got into a tussle. They would say stuff like 'Oh, I hope things work out, he's such a pleasant lad that Roger.' I suspected that both Roger's parents and mine had already started organizing the wedding.

"Whatever you say…" Cass said with a smirk and then added, "but really, I think we should let Roger know that you're no longer his for the taking."

I raised an eyebrow at that, curiosity getting the best of me. "And how do you suppose we do that?"

A grin flitted across her face as she said, "We find you a man of course."

I rolled my eyes at that, "I've done that before you know, b every other time Roger and I have gotten in a fight./b

"Yes, but you were only trying to make him jealous, and he was well aware of that fact. We need to find you a guy that's just as, if not more, popular than Roger; someone that he would hate to see you with… someone like…" Her eyes roamed around the room, searching for her possible victim. "Marcus Flint."

If I had decided to be less moody and eat my dinner I surely would have had quite a large amount of food ricocheting out of my mouth. However, I settled for a bit more subtle choking and sputtering sound.

"Fl-Flint?" I asked with a mingled look of disgust and disbelief.

"Well… he hates Flint, and he's popular… at least everyone knows him. And best of all, he's a Quidditch captain! Which will lead to possible match drama, at least something that will add to that otherwise dull sport."

"Flint? As in that bloke over there," I pointed wildly towards the Slytherin table, "the one that looks like he's been hit one time too many with a beater's bat? You don't think that me going after Flint would be like me shouting, 'Oh, Davies I wanted to make you jealous, but all I could find was this guy who looks a bit like a troll'?"

"Well, do you have any other suggestions?" She asked me seriously, crossing her arms and surveying me moodily, knowing I was entirely correct.

My eyes scanned around the room, taking in all the various students. I had no desire to pick any. This plan sounded a bit cliché really, but just as I was about to turn in the towel and tell Cass to just get over it already, my eyes landed on a tall, lean figure that had just entered the Great Hall.

I turned back to Cass with a smile, "I think I know the perfect person."

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"And the new seeker will be…" I paused a moment, staring at the nine hopeful Hufflepuffs,

"Cedric Diggory!"

There was a couple of cheers here and there, and a few disappointed grunts. I smiled happily at my tall, blonde friend, who grinned back with much enthusiasm, his eyes shining in happiness. My fellow teammates went over and clapped him on the back happily. After a few minutes I signaled for the rest of the team to huddle around me.

"Alright, let's get down to business. First off, welcome to the team Cedric!" A few more cheers of agreement followed, "And second, we need to discuss good practice days. So if you will each write on this sheet of parchment if you have any known events such as Gobstone Club or whatnot, and the days for them. After evaluating the sheet I'll post the first practice date in the Common Room in the next couple of days. Any question?"

I was greeted by six shaking heads of 'no'.

"Right, well," I said grinning, clapping my hands together excitedly, "I was thinking we should get in a couple basic exercises, you know a few reverse passes, some Woollongong Shimmies… and of course a few Parkin's pincers to start off the chasers."

There were a few collective groans at this, but I ignored them.

"Oh and of course I need to make sure our new seeker has a descent enough Wronski Feint, have you ever tried?" I asked, addressing the attractive teen that was still wearing a yellow try-out kit.

"Uh, no I never tried it… but I've seen it done," Cedric said slowly.

"Right," I said contemplating this, after a moment I nodded and said, "well, you'll get the hang off it after a few goes… don't be discouraged if you hit the ground a couple of times, it happens to the best of us…"

Cedric's face paled slightly at this.

"Alright, now let's start will some basic warm-ups," I said turning back to address the whole team, "Let's start with ten laps around the pitch, you bhave/b to go around the goal posts, so don't try any shortcuts or I'll make you run on foot! Understand?"

My fellow teammates nodded, perhaps a bit grudgingly, but beggars can't be choosers.

"Right, well get to it!" I said enthusiastically. They grabbed their brooms and pushed off, starting their laps. I stared at them for a few moments, making sure no one was cheating and then turned to grab my clipboard.

However, I was greeted with the sight of seven scarlet clad figures heading straight for me. I raised my eyebrow at the approaching group.

"Sorry Parkin, but I reserved the pitch from seven until nine tonight." It was Oliver Wood who had spoken. He was a very attractive Gryffindor seventh year with a Scottish accent that I've heard has made many other girls swoon. Why am I not affected? I'm a Scot too. Though, I don't have a Scottish accent. I moved to England when I was little so I had plenty of time to wheedle it out. However, I've been told that you can hear it still when I get angry. Anyway, Oliver Wood had short dark brown hair. He had a slightly burly, muscular build and he had very deep brown eyes. His face was currently set with determination. I can't say that I knew much about Wood, true we had once been friends long before our Hogwarts years, but we had never rekindled any sort of relationship… well, we tried in first year, but we gave up a few months in, eventually losing contact all together.

I smiled up at Wood, trying to look as if this bit of information was new to me; in fact I had checked the schedule to see when the Gryffindor's first practice was. Why you might ask? Well let's just say I needed an excuse to talk to Wood, who Cass and I determined was indeed the perfect candidate for my wooing. I mean he's a Quidditch captain, and Roger was never exactly his number one fan. Plus he's popular, and best of all he's attractive, something that our dear Flint was extremely lacking.

"Oh really?" I asked trying my best to show an astonished expression. "I completely forgot our try-outs were to end at seven. Silly me," I said sending him a sincere smile.

His lips twitched in a polite, yet forced smile. His team looked at me with interest, and in the middle I spotted someone unexpected.

Forgetting my mission I asked, eyebrows raised, "Harry Potter's your new secret weapon? Isn't he a bit young for Quidditch?"

Oliver raised an eyebrow at that, deciding whether to take than as an insult or just a simple observation. He appeared to suspect the former as he replied, "Our team members and their abilities really is no concern of yours Parkin. You'll find out all you need to come Game Day."

I tried very hard not to glare; deciding a full out argument really wouldn't bode well with any possible future relationships.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean it like that Oliver," I said plastering my most seductive smile. His expression didn't change. I frowned. "Right, well I'll let you get to it then…" I turned back to my team, surprised to see them all hovering a few meters up, "Uh, right then team, I guess you heard the man, to the showers! Good job all of you! I'll post the next practice up by tomorrow."

They all turned and headed off towards the changing rooms. Satisfied, I twisted back around to talk to Oliver once more. But I found that he had already walked off. Damn! This was going to be harder than I thought.

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"Wait, did you smile or did you i smile /i at him?" I was sitting in my dormitory, chatting with Cass. We were both perched on top of my bed, discussing my disastrous first encounter with Wood.

"I ismiled/i at him, hell I practically threw myself at him with that smile! I didn't know how to make it more apparent!" I sighed, "Oh, this is stupid, it's obvious he doesn't like me!"

Cass frowned at that, "Of course he likes you! Every guy likes you! But really, in all honesty, he probably thought you were trying to weasel your way into knowing his Quidditch plans or something, you know how obsessive he is when it comes to that game. Even i more /i than you are!"

I contemplated this; it actually made a lot of sense.

"Fine, what do I do then?" I asked, giving in once more.

"Well, he's a bit oblivious to tell you the truth," Cass bit her lip, pondering the situation, "I think you should ask him to Hogmeade, flirting alone won't get you a date with this one. So just cut the bullshit and ask him yourself."

I really did love her bluntness sometimes. I smiled and nodded, "I'll ask him tomorrow."

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I stared determinedly at the Gryffindor table. Oliver was there; hunched over some papers I assumed were game plans. I looked at Cass who sent me a "just get the hell over there and ask already!" expression. I sat up from the bench, beginning to make my way towards the Gryffindor Table. However, my plan was thwarted as I passed the Ravenclaws and my arm was grabbed.

"Hey, I've been meaning to talk to you."

I already knew who it was before I turned to face them.

"What do you want Davies?" I asked, my face hardening dangerously.

He rolled his eyes at me, marking my expression as 'typical Alex behavior'. "I just want to talk to you about what happened, and that Betty girl."

My expression turned from anger to pure disbelief.

"Betsy! Her name is Betsy! It's sad that I can remember the name of the girl my boyfriend snogged better than he can!"

Roger smiled, a rather odd reaction. "So we're still dating then?"

I stared at him, utterly confused for a moment, then realization hit me and I rolled my eyes angrily. "You were my boyfriend at the time, but I was telling the truth that morning in the Great Hall, it's over! And there is no way in hell that I'll come i'crawling back to you'/i again!" I turned and stalked away, now aware that half the Hall was staring at me, trying to find some more gossip no doubt.

I searched the Gryffindor table and was relieved to see that Wood had remained oblivious to everything that had just happened. I continued towards him. He didn't look up as I approached him, so gathering my courage I took the seat across from him, before addressing him, a figure caught my attention in the corner of my eye. It was Roger, he was still standing there, staring furiously at my new position at the Gryffindor Table. This was too priceless; I had to make sure that Wood said yes no matter what. I smirked at him and then turned my gaze back to Wood. I jumped. He had apparently, woken from his mini-coma long enough to notice that he was not alone.

"What are you doing here?" He asked curiously.

"I- I uh, I was wondering if you wanted to go to Hosgmeade with me this Saturday?" I took Cass's advice and got straight to the point. Wood's face was a mixture of shock and confusion. His eyebrows rose extremely high.

"Why?"

I stared at him, confused, "What do you mean why?"

"Why would you want to go with me?" His expression then changed to suspicion as he added, "Is this about Quidditch?"

I tried very hard not to roll my eyes. Cass really was right; he's more obsessed than I am.

"No," I said with a smile, "I actually… well, we used to be really good friends before we came here… I wanted to… to catch up."

His left eyebrow slide up joining his other, his suspicious expression was still there as he parroted, "Catch up?"

"Yeah… you don't have to if you don't want to," I glanced away from him, starting to feel both embarrassed and stupid. My cheeks were starting to feel a bit hot, but I tried to hold back my blush. Mustering up a bit more courage I added, "But I promise you this has nothing to do with Quidditch."

"Um, alright then."

I had been staring at a distant corner when he had said it. I quickly turned back to stare at him. He was smiled lightly at me, "I mean it would be nice to catch up."

I smiled brightly at him, "Brilliant! See you Saturday?"

His smile grew as well, "See you Saturday." He agreed.

A/N: Ok… so I have technically had this chapter written for about 3 weeks now… I have no idea why I didn't post it. I think I thought I wasn't finished or something. Anyway here it is! Please leave a review as I get moving on chapter 3!


	3. Shall We Ms Parkin?

Chapter 3: Shall we Ms. Parkin?

"Cass, you do realize it's almost October right?" I asked in disbelief, staring at my best friend who was currently helping me pick out an outfit for today, my date with Oliver Wood. I glanced at my dresser where she was standing, holding up a short black skirt and a rather revealing purple v-neck spaghetti strap top.

"Your point?" She asked with a shrug.

I scoffed, giving her an exasperated look. "I'm going to freeze to death!"

"Then where a jacket!"

"Do you see how short that skirt is? I will have goose bumps bigger than that pimple you had in third year!"

Cass gasped, holding a hand up to her chin where the pimple used to be three years ago. "I thought you promised never to bring that up again!" She glared at me, a cold fire in her eyes.

I sighed, letting my hands, which were previously placed on my waist in my motherly stance, fall to my sides. "I'm sorry… but I'm wearing jeans like a normal human."

"Fine," she said, giving in after sending me one final glare and turning back to the dresser where she pulled out a pair of dark jeans. She then pulled out a pair of black flats and handed everything to me. "Now hurry up and change so we can do your make-up."

I sent her a dazzling smile and took the offered clothes.

"Don't do anything stupid!" Cass reminded me for the hundredth time, "and do not, I repeat b do not /b under bany/b circumstances talk about Roger!"

I opened my mouth to reply that I was not daft, when she looked over my shoulder, smiled, and quickly walked away. I frowned, and then turn to see who managed to send her away willingly.

It was Wood. I smiled up at him, yes up… thank goodness! I do not know what I would do if he was shorter than me.

He returned the smile. He then looked me up and down, nodded and said "You look very nice today."

"Thanks, so do you." And it wasn't a lie. Oliver was sporting a white polo, jeans, and a tan jacket. He looked very nice indeed.

"Shall we Ms. Parkin?" he asked gesturing towards the main doors leading out of the castle, and holding out his elbow for me to take.

I smiled at his old-fashion behavior and with a short chuckle I took his elbow, allowing him to escort me to the village, "It is my pleasure, Mr. Wood."

He laughed lightly at that, sending me a playful grin.

As we walked we talked of pointless nonsense: classes, teachers, the works. The lively mood only diminished slightly once we passed the dementors at the gate. I shuddered as all the happiness left my body, feeling Wood do the same. After a few minutes, once I could feel life once more within me again did I speak.

"So are you looking forward to finally being finished with Hogwarts?" I asked seriously. We were both walking side by side, although I was no longer holding his arm. We gave up that act a while ago.

He frowned a bit, contemplating his answer. "I guess so… I mean it will be nice to be finished with all the school work, but it is a bit of a scary idea you know… being off on your own in the real world."

I paused a little in astonishment. I had never really thought about what would happen after I left school. I mean I knew it was going to happen, and that I would be off on my own. But it never really hit me.

"Yea, it is a bit… odd to think about. But it's still exciting at the same time. I personally cannot wait to start playing Quidditch professionally."

He smirked at me, "I thought we weren't going to talk about Quidditch?"

I rolled my eyes at him, "This doesn't count since it is about our futures. Are you going to play professionally?"

He frowned, "No idea…"

I stared at him in shock, "What do you mean? You love Quidditch! Everyone claims that if you could you would marry it!"

He raised an eyebrow at me, but I simply shrugged with a slight smile.

"I just don't think I'll get offered a spot anywhere," he said with a sigh. He expression then grew a bit astonished, "I never told anyone that before." His hand flew up and rubbed the back of his neck, a sign I knew meant he was uncomfortable. I was even surprised to realize this. I had barely interacted with this boy in five years, minus the occasional handshake before a match, but I was still able to read him fairly well.

Before I knew what I was doing, I said, "But you are an amazing player! iI/i even have trouble getting the Quaffle passed you!"

He smiled at me and then with a shrug said, "I know I'm a good player, but no team will want to hire a captain who has never earned his team the Cup! This year is my last year to prove to the scouts that I'm not just a Quidditch nobody! I've been working non-stop, coming up with plays and new moves like th-"

He cut himself off and glared at me. "Nice try, but I'm not going to tell you our game strategies!"

I stared at him in disbelief of his paranoia. I had to bite my tongue to keep back a rather nasty remark before saying, "Oh come on Wood, I was not trying to make you say anything; you dug that hole yourself, mate. But anyway, scouts don't look only at how many Cups you've won, but at your own skill."

"I know that, but as a captain, it is my duty to train up my teammates and ensure a victory. That's what shows true leadership."

In all honesty I completely agreed with him, but for the sake of my plan I said, "It's not all about winning Oliver, look at Dragomir Gorgovitch! He made it on to the Chudley Cannons and he never won any awards in his school!"

Oliver looked at me in disbelief and laughed. I tried very hard to hold back a glare. I mean I try to comfort the guy, and he laughs in my face.

"Let's face it, we both know the Cannon's standards are a bit lacking. Besides, I'm aiming for Puddlemere United."

"Puddlemere United?" I asked in disbelief. "Way to abandon your country Oliver! Even I am sticking to my Scottish roots and going for the Wigtown Wanderers!"

He raised his eyebrow at me with a smirk on his face, but he held off his comment as we entered the town of Hogsmeade.

"Where would you like to go?"

"How about the Three Broomsticks? I could go for a butterbeer."

"Alright," Oliver said with a nod. We then turned and headed towards the lively pub. When we entered we were bombarded by the usual sound of dozens of teenagers. But we both did not appear to mind. Not to mention the warmth of the pub was rather pleasing. We found an empty booth after a few minutes of searching and took a seat.

"I'll go get your butterbeer," Oliver said as I took a seat down.

"Oh, alright, give me a second," I then went to grab a few coins from my purse, but he stopped me and said, "Alex, don't worry about it."

I looked up at him in surprise, stopping my search through my purse and asked, "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "What kind of guy would I be if I made you pay for the drinks?" He added as if this was the most obvious thing in the world and then walked off towards the bar, not giving me a chance to debate any further.

I stared after him with furrowed eyebrows, my mind then flashed backed into not so distant memories.

i Hey, I spent all my money on that new Quill, can you pay this time?" Roger asked with a hopeful expression.

I nodded, telling him not to worry.

"Thanks babe, you're the greatest!" He then kissed me on the check and waited as I got up to get the drinks.

"Ugh! I can't believe it!" Roger said while reaching in his robe pockets hopelessly. "Someone must have nicked my money bag! I'm so sorry. I guess I can't buy you this candy after all… I'm such a horrible boyfriend…"

"I can't believe someone robbed you! Oh well, don't worry about it sweetie, I'll pay for it!"

He smiled at me handing me both his and my candy. "You're so amazing Alex!"

I stared around at the overly tacky decorations of Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop, it was rather hot and crowded in the shop. Roger smiled up at me, leaning over for a snog. I sighed, I hated snogging in public, but every time I told Roger this he would just scoff and lean in again. He was an amazing kisser though.

However, before he could kiss me, Madam Puddifoot came over, and placed the bill on the table. She smiled sweetly down at us and said, "You two lovebirds have a lovely evening!" She then winked and walked away.

I frowned at the retreating woman. Her and her tea shop could go to Hell for all I cared. I stared around at the pink walls with obvious distaste. Why did I come here again?

"I really like this place, don't you babe? It's rather romantic!" Roger said as he stared around the shop, trying to fake interest. "I knew you would love it here!"

I faked a smile and then looked at the bill, which had remained untouched. Roger continued to look around the shop, paying no attention to the little slip of parchment.

"I'll pay the bill then shall I?" I asked in what was meant to be a motivating tone to get Roger to fork up some money, but what I got instead was an astonished look .

"Oh babe, you are so sweet! You don't have to!"

I smiled at him and opened my mouth to say 'okay', when he added, "But if you insist!"

I stared at him for a moment, and then sighed, not wanting to get into another argument. Plus, Roger was a sweet enough guy, and I had enough money… there was no point in me being selfish.

I pulled out a galleon and 3 knuts and placed them on the parchment, which instantly was swept away by Madam Puddifoot, who continued to coo about the "adorable couple" as she waltzed away.

Roger smiled at me as he said, "Alex you are the sweetest girlfriend, I don't know what I would do without you!" He then grabbed my hand and gave it a light but affectionate squeeze. I smiled up at him, a real smile this time. He was such a nice guy sometimes!

He leaned over and gave me a short but hard kiss, "I love you Alex."

I smiled into his lips, "I love you too Roger."

"Happy Anniversary." /i

I was shocked out of my thoughts as two mugs were placed on the table with a dull 'thud'. I jumped slightly at the sudden sound.

"Are you alright?" Oliver asked with a worried look.

"What? Oh yeah, I'm fine!" I said a bit too quickly.

He quirked his left eyebrow and stared at me in disbelief. "Are you sure about that?"

I smiled at him for his concern, and then without thinking I said, "You know that you're a really nice guy?"

His other eyebrow rose at this. He laughed lightly while taking a seat. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No!" I said in astonishment, "It's just Ro-" I stopped myself abruptly, I could see Cass stomping around in my head in frustration over my stupidity. I made a face at my slip and turned my face down towards the table, hoping Wood didn't notice.

"Well Davies was always a bit of an arse hole."

My head shot up in disbelief. "How did you…?"

He smirked at me and said, "Oh come on, who else could you have been talking about?"

I opened my mouth and then shut it. After a moment I opened it again and said, "Let's not talk about Roger."

"So it's Roger again?" He asked with a teasing smile, "It sounded like you really wanted everyone to remember him as Davies, the what was it? Oh yeah 'Davies, the son of a bitch who you would never let hurt you again while he went around to have a cheap fix.'"

My face contorted in discomforted, as I shifted in my seat I said, "I was kind of hoping people would forget about that…"

His face lit up slightly as he continued to mock me, "Well I don't think anyone will be forgetting that anytime soon. And besides, why should they? You threw one hell of a punch!"

I couldn't help the laugh that erupted from my throat, "Well if you remember my dad at all, you would be more surprised if he ididn't/i teach his only daughter how to fight."

"Oh, I remember your dad alright. I remember him shouting that I better not go and hurt his future Quidditch star, otherwise I would be in for a rather violent arse-whooping!"

My eyes widened in shock, "He never said that!" I said in disbelief, though thinking about it that sounded like something my father would say.

He nodded, laughing at my shock.

"What were you, four? Ugh I'm sure he was just joking!"

"I was five actually, but it didn't matter if he was joking or not, he still scared the hell out of me."

I stopped to ponder this, thinking back, trying to recall the memories of my four-year-old self. I could only seem to conjure up mud-pies and toy brooms. I was never much of a doll girl that was all Cass's territory.

Then after a minute it hit me. "Was that when you went all quiet and kept fumbling and stuttering every time I came over to play with you?"

I was surprised to see a light blush creep onto his cheeks at that. Why though, I had no idea.

"No, that was actually when I was six… the same year you moved away. I see you lost your accent by the way. How do you like living in England? Where did you move to exactly?"

I stared at him in curiosity, was he changing the subject?

"Why did you act like that when you were six?" I asked, determined now.

Oliver just stared at me for a moment, his mouth slightly ajar as he searched for something to say. Nothing came.

After a moment, it hit me. I gasped, "Did you have a crush on me?" I asked with a wide smile, more teasing that anything.

No reply.

"Oh Merlin, you did, didn't you!" I exclaimed, my smile widening tenfold.

The slight blush that was present before, spread and grew, the color deepening.

"I had no idea! I mean I was five at the time, but I should have known something funny was going on! That's so sweet!"

"Oh shut up!" Oliver said with a glare, but I knew he didn't mean it. "It was a long time ago!" The blush remained however.

I snorted. Yes, snorted. "Oliver, if you were any redder, you would be an overripe tomato."

Oliver looked at me laughing and cracked a smile too. "I have no idea why I had a crush on you anyway. You were just a scrawny little girl in pigtails."

I faked disbelief as I scoffed and said, "Hey! My mother made me wear those! Besides you weren't that charming either with all that baby fat on you!"

His smile turned into a smirk as he admitted, "Well, what can I say, I was a sucker for chocolate."

"You still are if I remember correctly… or was that not you that Chrissy Masters gave a huge chocolate Easter bunny too last year?"

The blush once again returned, "Yeah that was me… but what a bunny has anything to do with Easter I have no idea…"

I smiled at this, having debated over this issue once myself and saying rather bluntly, "Apparently the bunny shits out chocolate eggs and gives them to children… at least that's what my muggle neighbor told me. But he is a rather mean man who hates everything… especially children, so he might have been lying to me."

Oliver was laughing by this point, "Well, I believe it!"

I flashed him a brilliant grin and began to laugh too. After a few minutes our laughter came to a halt, we then spent a moment staring at each other quietly, smiling. Oliver was the first to break the silence.

"You know, I was really surprised when you asked me to come with you to Hogsmeade. I figured our friendship was over after first year…" He appeared rather uncomfortable after he said it.

I frowned, "What happened in first year? I can't remember why we stopped talking."

Oliver's embarrassment grew. He frowned as well and said, "I think popularity was the main reason. I was considered a bit of a loser before I got on the Quidditch Team… but you… you were always popular. I understand why you didn't want to talk to me."

I stared at him in shock, mouth agape. "That can't be it! I would never stop talking to someone because they weren't popular!"

He gave me a disbelieving look, "Well then, let's just blame it on being in different houses."

I contemplated this, knowing it wasn't true. I had friends in all houses, even a few in Slytherin! I ran over my memories in first year, trying to remember the last time I had talked to Oliver. It only took me a moment of searching.

i "Hey Ollie!" The smaller, eleven-year-old version of myself shouted at the slightly tall brown haired boy down the hallway. He turned and smiled at me. Though he was a lot skinner than he used to be, he still had a bit of baby fat still evident on his cheeks.

"Hey Allie! How are you?" He asked excitedly hurrying over to me. I glared at him, a playful smile tugging at my face as I said, "Ollie, I told you call me Alex! Everyone else does!"

His smile turned into a smirk as he narrowed his eyes and replied, "I'll stop calling you Allie when you stop calling me Ollie! Besides as far as nicknames go, they fit well together, Allie and Ollie!"

I tried to reply, but was cut off by a couple of giggling girls who started chanting, "Allie and Ollie sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marria-"

"Guys quit it!" I yelled at the pack of girls that were all my friends.

"Oh come on Alex, stop hanging out with that loser!" Marcy Abrams teased.

"Don't call him that!" I yelled in anger at my friends.

There was a chorus of "oooooh's" as I stood up for my friend.

"Aw, Alex, you never told us you had a boyfriend!" Marcy said with a sly smile.

The girls giggled once more and continued their song. "Then comes marriage, then comes a baby in the baby carriage!"

"Stop!" I glanced at Oliver who was bright red from head to toe and looked as if he wished to be anywhere but where he currently was. I couldn't blame him.

"Fine, tell your boyfriend you will talk to him later. We're having a girl's night! Manicures, facials, the works!" Marcy Abrams then turned, flipping her hair over her shoulder and strolled away.

I turned back to Oliver. We were both blushing immensely. "Um… I-I should g-go… I'll talk to you later?" I added the last bit in a rush, turning and hurrying away before Oliver could even reply.

As I caught up with my friends I snapped, "He's not my boyfriend!"

Marcy turned to be with a serious expression, "Then stop hanging out with him, he's hurting your image!"

The rest of the girls turned to me expectantly. I colored once more and simply nodded. /i

I gasped at the sudden recollection. Placing my head in my hands ashamed. What a horrible girl I was. I was eleven, in a new environment, and seeking acceptance. Stupid Marcy Abrams, that Slytherin "Queen" went on to be one of the biggest whores in Hogwarts. Hell, I remember that she even tried to go out with that "loser" Oliver Wood when he made it on the team in his third year, my second. I stopped hanging out with her and her posse when I was thirteen. It was really Cass who did it. We were friends since first year and both Marcy's followers. But eventually Cass pulled out and dragged me with her. We have been best friends ever since.

"You've remembered?" I heard Oliver ask.

Without looking up I said, "I can't believe I listened to Marcy Abrams. No wonder I forgot, I tried so hard to block all memories of that bitch out of my life!"

I heard a light chuckle and I looked up. "No worries, after all who am I to judge the decisions of a insecure pre-teen?"

I opened to mouth to squabble on the "insecure" bit, but I quickly shut it again. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence I sighed.

"How about this. Let's start over. Let's pretend that we're just two teenagers who don't know each other, never met before. Hell, I've changed so much since you last talked to me anyway…"

Oliver smiled widely at the suggestion. He then stuck out his hand and said, "Hello, my name is Oliver Wood."

I smiled brightly in return and grabbed his hand, shaking it, "Alexandria Parkin. It's nice to meet you Oliver."

"It's nice to meet you Alexandria." He said, letting go of my hand and placing his on the table.

"Ollie, please call me Alex!"

"Alright Allie, I'll call you Alex when you stop calling me Ollie."

We laughed together at our own stupidity, both knowing that we would never drop the other's nickname.

A/N: Ok… this might have been overly boring for some. If so I'm sorry. I really didn't plan for the conversation to be this long. Hell the date isn't even over. But I figured it was getting a bit lengthy. Please review. I'm thinking of putting Roger's and maybe Oliver's POV in the next and later chapters. Would you like to see other POV's or just Alex's? Please let me know!


	4. Step One, Procure a Boyfriend

QQQ ch 4: Step one procure a boyfriend

"So how did it go?" I stared down into the overly-excited eyes of my best friend and smiled in response. Which caused her to let out a large squeal.

"What did you talk about? Was he nice? Did you talk about Rog-?"

I cut her off with a simple, "Good night Cass." As I headed over to my four-poster bed and collapsed on it, closing the curtains around me.

"Fine," I heard her say after a large, dramatic sigh, but you're telling me **everything **tomorrow."

I grunted as a response and then smiled into my pillow stupidly, thinking about my day.

_After the Three Broomsticks, we spent a large amount of time gallivanting around Hogsmeade, talking a mile a minute. We talked about almost everything, however we steered clear from the topic of Quidditch. Every time I would mention anything related to the sport, Oliver would just smile and say "nice try" and change the subject. It was slightly annoying that I couldn't discuss my most favorite pastime, but I let it slip. _

_The most eventful moment, however, was when we ran into Roger. We were walking towards Honeyduke's when we saw him heading the opposite direction, his arm slung over the shoulder of his new conquest, the young Ravenclaw. Curiosity had gotten the best of me that day in the Great Hall and I had later asked Cass who she was. It turned out her name was Amber Carey. She was supposedly a nice enough girl, but I had my doubts. _

_I was the first to notice them. He was walking towards us, whispering coyly into her ear. I felt my stomach burn unpleasantly, and I had a very strong urge to grab Wood and snog him senseless, but I resisted, knowing that idea would just turn into a disaster. I settled for glaring, and was shocked out of my reverie, when Wood grabbed my hand. I looked up to see him smiling at me kindly, though I could see a bit of anger in his eyes that I was pretty sure was not directed at me. _

_I was so caught up looking at Oliver's expression that I was once more shaken out of my thoughts by a loud scoff. I turned to see Roger rolling his eyes at the two of us, with a mocking smirk on his lips. _

"_It's not working Parkin," he said with a sneer._

_I breathed in heavily and in an annoyed tone I said, "You know, not everything I do revolves around you, Davies!" _

_Roger was about to reply when Oliver stepped in, "Yea, Davies, besides I asked Alex out," he said as he wrapped his arm around me, "I was just lucky enough that she got over your sorry arse." _

_I tried to hide my surprise as he said this, and continued to look at Roger nonchalantly. He looked a bit taken aback. And Amber looked downright uncomfortable. _

"_Whatever Wood, just watch out, because she is definitely playing you." He then walked away before either of us could throw out a retort. _

_We were both silent for some time after that, neither of us seemed to notice or really even care that we had passed Honeyduke's. I looked up at Oliver to see that he was thinking rather intently. I frowned, starting to get worried. _

"_You don't actually believe him do you?" My voice remained calm, but my eyes betrayed my real feelings. Truthfully, I wasn't fully over Roger, but I wanted to be, and I really did not want the first guy after him to think that I still wanted to be with that bastard._

_Oliver looked at me for a moment, still with a slight frown, but he soon dropped it and smiled at me. "No, Davies isn't exactly known for his honesty."_

_I was still frowning, the entire event was rather upsetting. I looked down at the ground for a moment, before slowly picking my head up once more and addressing him. "You know, you didn't have to lie to him about asking me out."_

_His smile grew slightly at that, "Well, in all honesty, it wasn't exactly a lie." _

_Confusion grew on my face at that statement, "What do yo-" _

_He stopped me by lifting a finger to my lips until I stopped talking, and then he dropped his hand. "Yes, I know you asked me out, what I meant was the second part wasn't a lie. I am really glad that you got over Davies. I… I uh, well I have been meaning to… uh…"_

_Confusion was still plastered on my face as he stumbled over his words, "You've been meaning to… what exactly?"_

_A small blush crept up his neck and onto his cheeks, but he continued anyway, "I have been meaning to ask you to um… catch up for a while now. But I never knew what you might have said, so I always chickened out."_

_My confusion slipped away to be replaced with a small smile. I then laughed at Oliver's expression, he was waiting to see my reaction to his confession. His face blanched slightly at my laugh, so I covered my mouth with my left hand to stifle the laughter. Yet, when I retracted my hand, a grin was still there._

"_You've been meaning to ask me out?" I said happily, "Tell me Oliver, did you ever get over your six year old crush on me?" _

_Oliver's expression was first shocked but then changed to one of amusement, a smirk crawling onto his face. I studied it for a moment, but was happy to see that it was not as… sinister as the one Roger always wore. _

"_I meant, we used to be such good friends, I wanted to get back to that."_

_I tried to hide the slight disappointment I felt when he said that. Where it had come from I do not know. I hadn't even given Oliver a second thought until the other day. My thoughts were interrupted as Oliver continued._

"_Though it did take some time for me to get over the fact that you ditched me because I was chubby."_

_My grin dropped at this, "That's not why-"_

_He stopped me once more in the same manner, yet this time he didn't let him finger drop as he spoke. "I was only joking." He laughed lightly, staring into my eyes for a moment before letting his hand drop once more. I could still feel the eruption of butterflies in my stomach that I had gotten when he touched my face. _

_We started walking again, though I hadn't even noticed that we had stopped at all. I looked down and noticed that we were still holding hands. I looked at our hands with interest. It felt so natural that I hadn't even noticed. I felt so comfortable with Oliver it was almost scary. _

"_So… do you want to walk back to Honeyduke's like we originally planned, because somehow we already managed to walk almost all the way back to the castle. I stared up at the castle in the distance, a little relieved. True, it felt right standing there with Oliver, my hand in his, but really it was also a bit weird. Why did I never feel this was with Roger? I really needed to think. _

"_That's ok Oliver, I was hoping to get a head start on my plans for the first match."_

_He grinned at me, "Head start? You know I've been planning for Gryffindor's first match since the end of last year right?"_

_I laughed and rolled my eyes at him, "Well Ollie, not all of us are as obsessed as you."_

_His eyes narrowed, but he was still grinning as he said, "Okay Allie, I'll let you go plan, but don't expect us to go easy on you come game day."_

_My smile grew widely as I mockingly said, "Oh Ollie, I would never expect you to let me win in Quidditch. Besides we both know it is you that will be needing all the help you can get."_

_We both stared at each other with narrowed eyes, yet our smirks gave away our real feelings on the matter._

_We walked in through the front gates, giving Filch our names, and trying to ignore the feelings we got as we passed the Dementors. I mean I understand that there is a killer on the loose, but I mean, couldn't we have gotten a bunch of Aurors or something less… creepy?_

_Oliver seemed to hold the same opinion, but neither of us mentioned them. We remained silent until the castle. It was starting to feel a little uncomfortable, and my hand in his started to feel hot and sweaty, but I felt it would be rude to just yank it away. Once we got inside Oliver said, "I'm not going to lie, I don't know where the Hufflepuff common room is…" I think he expected me to lead him there, but instead I said, "That's okay, I can handle it from here," I dropped his hand and stood in front of him, fumbling with the edge of my shirt. _

_He seemed a little disappointed, but it didn't last long, so I could have been wrong. "Okay, see you around?" He asked with a smile._

_I returned the smile easily and said, "You can't get rid of me that easily Ollie!"_

_He gave me a last fleeting smirk before walking away, up the stairs towards what I assumed to be the Gryffindor common room. I had no idea where it was. The only other common room I had been to was the Ravenclaw's… but I rather not talk about that. _

_As Oliver disappeared, I thought about actually heading towards my common room, but I changed my mind and headed back outside again, but instead of going to Hogsmeade I went in the direction of the Quidditch Pitch. I definitely needed to think about all these weird feelings I was having. _

I sighed into my pillow. I had stayed at the Pitch until the sun set. But then I was forced to go in because of the Dementors. I still had not come to a conclusion on my feelings for Wood.

I would really like to know why I got butterflies when he touched my lips… Maybe it was because I hadn't felt that way with Roger… since what fourth year? Back when he was actually sweet, and held the door open for me, and gave me light kissed on the cheek when he thought I did something cute… He wasn't always an arsehole. I thought back to one particular occasion in the middle of fourth year.

"_Where are we going Roger?" I asked with a giggle as he dragged me up various staircases. Roger wasn't my boyfriend yet, but we had been hanging out a lot together every since our first date in Hogsmeade the last weekend. _

"_You'll see," he said with a bright smirk as we continued up the stairs. We were coming up on a door at the top when he stopped abruptly and turned to face me. He smiled for a second before stepping behind me and covering my eyes with one hand. With the other he opened the door and then led me inside. _

"_You ready?" He whispered lightly in my ear._

_I felt my stomach erupt with a multitude of butterflies as his breath tickled my ear. I smiled and nodded. He then removed his hand and I gasped. The tower we were in had a large window that looked out at the dark and snowy landscape. It was currently snowing, and I could see the flakes falling because of the light being emitted from the various candles on the ground. The floor was set up with a large blanket ,which was covered with a large variety of sweets. I gasped at the sight and hurried over to the blanket, looking at all the candies. I was a little disturbed to see that there was white chocolate in the pile. I hated white chocolate, but I shrugged it off and picked up a piece of peanut brittle instead. _

"_Roger this is amazing!" I squealed, staring up at him in amazement, "You didn't have to do all this!"_

_He smirked at my astonishment and walked over towards me, sitting next to me on the blanket. I was about to reach for another piece of candy, when he grabbed my hand, forcing me to look up into his face. _

"_Yes I did," he said seriously, "You deserve this and so much more… please be my girlfriend?"_

_I melted at those words, "Oh Roger, of course I will!"_

_He smiled at me, a real genuine smile, not a smirk, and then leaned in and kissed me lightly on the lips. He seemed unsure at first, but with some encouragement from me the kiss deepened. I smiled into his lips, this moment was just perfect. _

I sighed once more into my pillow, wondering why Roger had changed so much. He used to be such a sweet boy. I wonder if that kindness is still in there somewhere. Maybe after he realizes that I am not coming back this time he will turn back into the guy I fell in love with… Oh Merlin, I am so not over Roger am I?

What am I suppose to do? I had so much fun with Wood today, but I cannot hang around with him if I still have feelings for another guy, can I? I continued to think, mulling over the past year or so that I spent with my ex-boyfriend. Roger's words rang through my head. _"You'll be back! You always come __**crawling **__back!" _I found myself glaring up at the top of my four-poster.

It was decided. I would make him pay, but not like the last time. I wouldn't just go snog a guy to get Davies back. No, this time I would take it nice and slow. I am going to make that boy so jealous, and then when he cannot take it anymore and tries to come crawling back to **me** I am not going to take his sorry arse back. I continued to glare up at the top of my bed, but now an evil smirk began to crawl onto my face, much like the one Roger always seemed to wear.

Now let's see, what to do? I thought for a moment before Oliver's smiling face popped into my head and my smirk widened. Step one, procure a boyfriend.

A/N: Ok, so she had her nice date with Oliver. Her one chance to see him as the wonderful boy that he is and turn back before she does something stupid… but now it's on. Expect, much drama and tears from here on out.

Also, I am not planning for this to be a super long story, maybe around 15 chapters. But no worries, there shall be a sequel, which should be more exciting than this story but ah well. Please let me know what you think. And yes, I know that this chapter is somewhat scattered, but I did that semi on purpose. Semi because she is confused on what to think about these two guys, and also because my mind is so scattered right now its not even funny. Now, I better go do homework before I flunk out of college.


	5. Uncooperative Seekers and Twat Brothers

Ch 5: Of Uncooperative Seekers and Twat Brothers

"Diggory, for Merlin's sake! How many times do I have to tell you? You need to pull up hard right before the tip of your broom touches the ground. And I mean right before! You still had a good two feet to the ground, now do it again! I yelled from my position at the base of the Pitch, one hand on my hip, the other clasped firmly around my clipboard, which I was clutching tightly in my anger. I mean he's only been at it about seven times so far. What was he so afraid of, the ground wasn't going to reach out and grab him!

Cedric Diggory, who was sweating and leaning heavily on his broom in exhaustion, groaned at my words and exclaimed, "But Alex-"

He stopped momentarily at my glare, after all they knew the rules, I was only 'Alex' or 'Parkin' off the field, on the field I was an authoritative figure, and that position called for respect. Okay, stop with the judgments. I really am a nice person… when I am not on a Quidditch Pitch, but Quidditch is important, and I worked my arse off at it, as they all bloody well know.

He groaned once more, and started again, "Sorry, i Captain/i."

I nodded for him to continue, dropping my glare.

"But I have been at this all practice, and I am not getting the hang of it. I don't even think anyone at this school knows how to do a Wronski Feint. That's a professional move, so what's the point?"

"What's the point?" I scoffed at his statement, glaring once more. I was about to start yelling again, but thought better of it after seeing Diggory's slightly defeated look. Hell, maybe I was being a bit hard on him; it was after all his first practice… Damn. I grabbed my broom, (a Nimbus 2001, thanks Mr. Whitehorn!) after placing my clipboard along with my notes on one of the bottom bleachers, and headed up towards the hoops.

"Oi!" I shouted to the rest of my team, who were all pretending to practice their respective positions, when really they were all listening intently, waiting for me to explode, or for Cedric to quit or something. Oh Hogwarts drama, how I love you. "You lot, gather round!"

They all turned their brooms and headed towards me. Have I introduced my team yet? No? Well, we've got the beaters, Maxine O'Flaherty, a seventh year who believe it or not was bloody amazing for a female beater if not a bit lacking in the looks department, but ah well she was still nice as long as you didn't get on her bad side. Our other beater is Anthony Rickett, handsome fifth year and Cedric's best mate. Then there were the chasers: Malcom Preece , forth year, but still a looker. What… I can look can't I? And also Heidi Macavoy, who was a fifth year like Cedric and Anthony, and she was also very pretty. I often caught Anthony making goo-goo eyes at her, but the chicken shit never seemed to want to make a move, and finally moi, no explanation of my fantastic skills needed. Our keeper's name is Herbert Fleet, seventh year and pretty good, but he was no Wood, sadly. And finally our seeker, Cedric Diggory, fifth year, very attractive, and currently a pain in my arse, but I digress.

I stopped in front of Cedric, turning to address my team. "Listen up everyone. Diggory here seems to have failed to grasp the reason for learning the Wronski Feint, so let's enlighten him, yeah?"

I turned back to Cedric, who looked like we were all going to stone him or something. I heard a few members of my team groan, but otherwise not comment as I started. I clasped my hands around my mouth to resemble a megaphone and shouted, "What's the team with determination? The team that aims at annihilation?"

In response I heard a chant of, "Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff!"

"Which team is better than the rest? The one that wears the yellow and black crest?"

"Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff!"

I started smiling as I continued to chant, "Which team aims for the highest score? The one that loves to hear the wind roar?"

"Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff!"

"Which team is the hardest to beat? The one that yields to no defeat!"

"Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff!"

"What team?"

"Hufflepuff!"

"What did you say?"

"Hufflepuff!"

"One more time?"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Who are we?"

"HUFFLEPUFF! WE PLAY FOREVER OR DIE TOGETHER! HUFFLEPUFF!"

The Pitch was silent after that, only the dull whistle of the wind could be heard, as I continued to smile at Cedric.

"You see Diggory, we are more than just a team; we are a family. We take this game seriously, which is why Hufflepuff hasn't been at the bottom since I joined in my second year. I, along with everyone else on this team, put everything we got into being the best, going above and beyond the normal requirements for a school Quidditch team. Why? Because not only do we want to win, but we want to play, and with everything we've got. Now, if you aren't cut out for that, you should probably leave now, and we won't hold it against you-"

There was a scoff from behind me, and I turned momentarily to glare at Anthony for his interruption during my motivation/intimidation speech.

"Right, well we will i try /i not to hold it against you. But if you chose to stay, I will personally walk you through step by step, performing it for you as many times as you need, until you see what you needs to be done and can get a hand of it yourself."

Cedric raised an eyebrow at me in disbelief, "You know how to do a Wronski Feint?"

It was my turn to be surprised, "Of course I do, you didn't think I'd make you do something that I couldn't even do, did you?"

He shrugged his shoulders at me in response. I rolled my eyes, and readied myself on my broom. "Watch and learn mates. Oh and Diggory, you should probably head to the ground so you can see exactly where to pull up."

Everyone decided it would be beneficial to watch from the ground. I rolled my eyes as they all headed towards the bleachers to watch the show. Once they were all settled I tilted my broom straight down in a dive, feeling the wind whisk past me briskly, making my eyes water, but I was used to the feeling and managed to keep them open, even though I could feel them drying up quickly. I blinked a few times, but overall managed to keep my gaze on the ground as it loomed nearer and nearer.

I heard a few of my teammates begin to gasp as I was about two feet off the ground, but I merely smirked, pulling up hard just before my broom tip hit, and I continued to fly my feet grazing the top of the grass. I turned slightly to the left and headed slowly back to my team, whom were all cheering for me. I was happy to see the look of shock and excitement all over Cedric's face. My smirk turned into a full toothy grin as I came to a halt in front of my team and dismounted.

They began to all simmer down, and I was about to speak when I heard a distance person cheering from afar. I spun around and growled angrily as I once more mounted my Nimbus and flew off towards the other side of the Pitch. I saw a look of terror cross the culprit's face once I got near enough for them to see my expression.

"Oi, you little sneak! How many times do I have to tell you? You aren't allowed to watch our practices!"

"But Lexi!" The little boy squeaked in disappointment.

"And how many times do I have to tell you it's Alex? Not Lexi!" I glared down at the skinny, blond boy, while he looked back at me, his blue eyes narrowed in determination.

"You called me 'Peter the Penguin' for half my life, I think a lifetime of 'Lexi' is more than fair!"

I continued to glare, but I could feel my resolve weakening within me. But I was trying hard to keep my glare going for as long as possible.

"It's not my fault you waddled like a bloody penguin!"

"I was a baby. They tend to waddle when they start to walk, you sod!"

I couldn't hold it back anymore. My glare faded and a small smile slipped onto my lips. I lowered myself onto the top of the bleachers to sit down with my brother. Yes, brother. Hell even though my dad loved me to pieces, I still know that he wanted a boy to carry on the Parkin name. After all, nobody manages to make it from the 1400's with the same surname, without some bloody willpower. Well… technically speaking, I shouldn't be a Parkin, but in 1852 my great, great, great…. how many ever… great grandmother got divorced from her husband, Robert Walters or Waters… something like that, and reverted back to a Parkin. She was a bloody amazing Quidditch player, and apparently her father was beyond happy that she did it, because his wife couldn't have any more kids or something, and they couldn't produce a male heir. Anyway, the point is we Parkin's take our legacy very seriously, and if it wasn't for great, great, great, great, something Grandma Joanne Parkin, I would be Alexandria Abigail Walters/Waters and that's just… wrong.

But anyway, back to my brother. The little tyke was born when I was four, and me being the slightly immature five year old that I was claimed that my one year old, newly walking brother waddled like a penguin, and I called him Peter the Penguin ever since… or at least till I hit third year, and people told me it was neither clever nor cute. But dear Peter seemed to like to hold a grudge and resorted to calling me Lexi, a nickname that I am not so fond of. Seriously, I hate it more than Allie. I don't know why… it's just so... Lexi, yeah.

"Peter, you know I love you, but that doesn't mean you can watch our practices." I turned to look at my team and saw them all huddled around, chatting. I sighed and stood up, yelling out, "Oi, get back to work or it's laps for the lot of you!" Well that did it.

I turned back to my brother, who still wasn't backing down and was just sitting there, with his arms crossed glaring at me.

"But Oliver let's me watch his practice!"

I rolled my eyes at this. "That's because you're a Gryffindor dummy. If you were a Hufflepuff, it would be reversed. I would let you sit here and cheer all you want, and Wood would be the one kicking you off the Pitch!"

"But you're my sister!" He looked at me with a saddened expression, not seeming to comprehend why I was trying to kick him out, for the umpteenth time. Usually he just complied and left, but now he seemed to want to fight it. Damn that Gryffindor pride!

"Blame the sorting hat, not me!" I said with a frown, trying to not let his saddened expression get to me.

"But you're my sister," he repeated softer this time, "Do you think I would tell the other teams your training program? I would never sell you out! At least not about Quidditch!"

I stared down at him, my frown deepening. That was a serious statement after all. I mean the little kid drove me mad, and he loved to make my life a living hell sometimes, but we both understood when it came to the most important sport in the history of mankind. My brother was a second year, and was waiting patiently *cough* *cough* for a position on the Gryffindor team to open up, chaser of course, just like his sister (And well dad too, mom was a bloody keeper, must have been why she had a soft spot for Wood when we were friends). I couldn't help but feel a bit of pride blossom inside me at the thought of my brother following in my footsteps.

He couldn't try out for another three years anyway, when both Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet would be leaving and open up some spots for him. And if I couldn't trust family, whom could I trust with my Quidditch secrets? After all, Parkin's understand the meaning of Quidditch.

"Alright, you can stay, but if I get wind of you telling anyone about what you see…"

I drew a finger along my neck and made a "thwack" sound.

He nodded eagerly, excitement spreading across his face.

"And no friends! Only you can watch!"

He stopped nodding, and his eyes narrowed, "On one condition!"

I scoffed, "I don't do conditions!" But his expression didn't change, and I knew he would keep showing up anyway. "Alright, what's your condition?"

A huge grin grew on his face as he said, "I get to practice with you!"

An expression of disbelief appeared on my face, "Are you joking?" He shook his head, still waiting for my reply. I glared at him before saying, "Only at the end of practice, and only once a month."

"A week!" He tried to reason.

I rolled my eyes once more, "A month, and you know you're lucky to be getting that!"

He smirked at me, "Alright fine!" He then turned slightly and grabbed something from behind him. I inclined my head to see what it was and sputtered slightly as he pulled out his broom. That little sneak! Did he just manipulate me into letting him practice with my team?

He turned back to me, a playful smirk evident on his face as he said cheekily, "Oh stop with the gawking, all you Puffs are so easy to swindle, just throw in a few fake tears and your done!"

I glared at him, "Well then, what are you waiting for, get your arse on the Pitch before I make you do laps!" If he wanted to practice with my team, then he would get the whole bloody experience.

"Right o' Captain!" he said as he flew off to practice with the chasers, who stared at him in confusion for a moment, until he said something to them, which they nodded to and passed him the Quaffle.

I tried to fight the smile that was creeping onto my face. He might have been a right bugger, but at least he understood Quidditch authority.

A/N: Yeah I know, no Oliver and no Roger. What kind of story is this? But it was a cute and slightly important filler chapter… okay, it really wasn't that important, but it did show you a bit more of Alex's personality. And if you think an entirely different character just waltzed in and claimed the title of lead, don't worry. Alex has two personalities, and not in the psycho, crazy killer kind. She is really nice and whatnot off the Pitch, and really forward and aggressive on it. You'll begin to see these two sides start to mix as the story develops. After all, nothing says competition like a love triangle.

Also, since this chapter was completely pointless and a bit too short… not that I write long chapters, but I digress. I shall be starting the next one as soon as I push the submit button. So it will probably be up by Saturday, because I have an appointment tomorrow, and what not. Tomorrow if I get time. But it will be up by the end of this weekend, and as an added bonus, I will put both Roger and Oliver in it, but only if you review! ;) Come on it makes me happy! Review for the cute little brother. And I tried hard since I am the youngest and I have no idea what the interactions with a little bro is like. ANYWAY I SHALL SHUT UP NOW! REVIEW!


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